UX4 — Run Inspector enhancements: phase stepper, tags, ipopt output (E4)

[jack-champagne]

Part of the seam UX-prototype track (Krishna interview). Sequencing: comprehensive — after the basics (UX1/UX2). Extends the already-merged Run Inspector seam — the lowest-friction surface (the seam is live).

What

Enhancements to the live Run Inspector: a phase-panel stepper, pulse tags + a run label, ipopt output, and an optional/collapsible plot preview ("plot preview is optional").

Krishna's signal (interview 2026-06-30, p1 + p2)

• phase panel with a stepper row (p1)
• "plot preview is optional"; "ipopt output"; pulse tags; run label (p1, p2)

Seam-prototype approach

Extends media/inspector.{html,css} + the existing inspector_view_contract.test.ts. Feed fake iter/stat data through the existing message API (postIteration, setImageSource) — no new backend.

⚠️ The inspector contract test flags the current single-run seam as temporary (Phase 1.3 reshapes it into per-run views and the test goes with it). Keep these enhancements compatible with that direction — don't harden anything that assumes single-run forever.

Feedback questions for Krishna / Andrew

1. Does the phase stepper + ipopt output help during a live solve, or is it noise?
2. Should the plot preview default collapsed or expanded?

Lanes

• Kate — inspector markup/style additions (media/inspector.*)
• Raghav — extend inspector_view_contract.test.ts + the fake-data feed
• Jack — which metrics/controls earn their place

Refs: spec-20260529-amicode-architecture (RunInspector multi-run), plan-20260603-124231-amicode-phased-build (Phase 1.3). Rides the merged inspector seam (PR #44).

[kateebonner]

Design-lane scaffold landed — Kate is taking this surface up FIRST (sequencing change from the #50 plan: inspector before the UX1 storyboard). To keep the live seam safe, the redesign runs as a fixture-driven prototype (media/inspector_v2.{html,css} + src/inspector_v2_webview.ts): a fake solve animates on load — phase stepper (setup→simulate→solve→iterate→plot→catalog), status pill, run label, tags row, streaming ipopt output (collapsible), plot preview (collapsible — feedback Q2 is its default state). media/inspector.* + the live contract test are untouched; converging the redesign back onto the live seam is the step after feedback. Also: UI atoms/components now live under media/ui/ (design-lane folder), typed TS factories + CSS side by side. Opens in a browser or via "Amicode: Open UX prototype (dev)" in the Extension Host. Typecheck + 79 tests green.

[jack-champagne]

Freeze 2 decision (2026-07-02): the frozen shared contract is the runId-keyed host↔webview message protocol, not the DOM — so your design lane (media/inspector.*) is yours to iterate freely, no contract-owner in your way.

Build UX4 to be build-off-able to ship (per Jack): structure the enhancements (phase stepper, tags, run label, ipopt output) as a self-contained 'run panel' unit — one run's view that 1.3 (#58) clones into per-run panes. Avoid single-run globals (e.g. one fixed m-obj); scope to a run-panel so per-run templating carries your work over instead of throwing it away. Your validated design (after Krishna/Andrew feedback) is the seed 1.3 evolves — so the sequence is UX4 → feedback → refine → 1.3 builds off it.

[jack-champagne]

Fold-in from the workflow-frames spec §6.1 (Aaron, design-open — concrete piece, safe to build): live-plot push → pull. Today the inspector force-focuses on the first frame (setImageSource → amicode.runInspector.focus); flip to pull — gate auto-reveal behind amicode.autoRevealInspector (default off), keep the existing latest-frame buffering (bufferedImage) so opening mid-solve replays, and add a clickable status-bar item (● live plot · iter 38) that reveals on demand. Small, no contract change; maps to PRD S4/S36. Fits UX4's inspector enhancements.

[jack-champagne]

Plot-decoupling (2026-07-02): UX4 becomes the native pulse-data plotter — the webview renders the pulse from emitted data (theme-aware, resizable), not a server PNG. This is Kate's component. The emit + Freeze-2 protocol plumbing (setImageSource/refresh{url} → postPulseData/pulseframe, template/callback emit, contract test) is the substantial-plumbing carve-out → #71 (@Rchari1), per the #50 ownership policy. Gating question there: plot_pulse parity (what the client must replicate) + mid-solve iterates are infeasible (auto-scale + label 'iter N, not converged'). Coordinate the shared component with #71.

[jack-champagne]

Correction to my earlier note: #67 (pulseplot v1) already shipped the native pulse plotter + the protocol — it's pulse/pulsemeta/postPulse + AMICODE_PULSE/AMICODE_PULSE_META emit (NOT the postPulseData/pulseframe I wrongly wrote — see @Rchari1's #58 note). So UX4's native-plot core is done in #67; remaining UX4 = the phase-stepper / tags / ipopt-output / run-label enhancements on top of it.